Petersham Nurseries Cafe. London

This famous nursery cafe near London currently has Greg Malouf, the Australian chef who specialises in Middle Eastern cuisine as the guest chef. The cafe is a proponent of the "slow food" movement and as such has quite a culinary following.

Laduree, Sydney

This famous Parisien patisserie and tea room was opened this year at the Westfield Sydney. Reknown for its macarons with a ganache filling designed in the middle of the 20th century by Pierre Desfontaine, second cousin to Louis Ernest Laduree, these elegant stores offer a glimpse of Parisien style. The menu pictures are only a sample of the multi-page booklet and its offerings. My Sydney dwelling daughter was most impressed so I suppose I will have to validate her opinion when I am in Sydney next year.....

Le Plaza Hotel, Brussels

Built in 1930, the architecture was modelled on the famous George V Hotel in Paris, it soon became symbol of luxury hotels in Belgium. In 1940 it was occupied by the German troops who booby trapped it before the arrival of the Allies. Fortunately only the Winter Graden ans the stained glass dome were destroyed. Like many famous hotels of the time it could not keep pace with the changing needs of the travelling public and closed in 1976.

In 1995, 400 million Belgium Francs was spent on its restoration and renovation returning it to its former glory. Visit its web site to see the magnificent restoration. This menu is from the 1930's and features a breakfast menu and an a la carte menu. Interesting to see savouries or "toasts"as they call them, similar to the older English menus.